1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of interactive web engine based business coordination services, and more particularly to a system and method for the management and coordination of the time schedules, appointment calendaring, client personal data, marketing of products and services, and income tracking for Individual Service Providers, and for companies that lend, rent, or lease facilities to Individual Service Providers. The invention involves a centralized, web engine based system that enables providers of goods and services to create customized time and appointment schedules and marketing presentations and communications. It also allows a Consumer of an individual Service Provider access to that Individual Service Provider's marketing presentations, goods and service listings, price listings, and appointment calendaring, and to submit, personal data into the system.
For purposes of this application, the Applicant uses the term “Individual Service Providers” to refer to individuals who offer business services, including related product sales. The term “Company Service Providers” is used to refer to company organizations that offer business services, including related product sales, and that either hire Individual Service Providers or lend, rent, or lease facilities to them for purposes of providing business services. The term “Service Providers” refers to both individuals and companies when a specific adjective is not otherwise used. The Applicant uses the term “Consumers” to refer to clients or customers of the Service Providers.
The invention also provides for protected access to the system as a means of securing use of the system against unauthorized users. For example, an Individual Service Provider is permitted to use the system in relation to his or her services and Consumers only, and access is prohibited to data related to the services or Consumers of other providers. A Company Service Provider is permitted to view, edit, and make appointments for only those Individual Service Providers who have authorized the company's access, and the Company Service Provider cannot access any of the Consumer data stored in the system. A Consumer of services is permitted to enter and review his or her own personal data stored in the system, make and change appointments, and review marketing information stored for the Consumer's particular Individual Service Provider, but cannot access data stored by other Consumers. In one embodiment of the system, secure access may be established by means of registration and membership procedures.
This system is intended for use by Service Providers and Consumers in any trade or service industry. For ease of illustration, a specific embodiment of the method and system is described as applied to beauty professionals, their clients, and salons.
2. Description of Related Art
Prior art exists in relation to business methods for distribution of data to, or automated communication with, Consumers. U.S. Patent No. 2001-0054004 teaches a business model using proprietary software to distribute branding, advertising, marketing, and service data to the users of the software. U.S. Patent No. 2002-0178078 describes a computerized system and method by which a business may respond to customers using automated communications to deliver correspondence and gifts. These inventions do not function as a centralized system that allows many subscribers to provide their schedules online so customers can make, change, and cancel appointments in a customized schedule form and to create customized web pages, electronic messages, newsletters, and other marketing promotions.
Other prior art exists in the area of online commercial payment and financial investment methods and systems. U.S. Pat. No. 6,405,177 describes a method for securing credit card transactions online. U.S. Pat. No. 6,470,321 teaches a system and method for determining an equity protection insurance policy. U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,176 demonstrates a computerized method for the purchase and resale of goods such that parties can interactively bid on price. These systems and methods do not involve the scheduling of appointments or the marketing of services.
Various prior art exists for systems and methods that allow a user to enter information that the system then evaluates according to predetermined analysis programming to arrive at a result and report for the user. U.S. Pat. No. 6,643,385 teaches a system and method for planning weight-loss goals. Websites for calculation of loan and mortgage rates are common, as are websites for determining currency exchange rates. These systems have no provision for scheduling appointments or for determining the cost-savings of using the system in comparison to other available methods or systems.
Prior art exists for systems and methods by which users can access online services. U.S. Pat. No. 6,711,682 provides a system and method for a user to gain access to an online service by means of an automatically generated identifier when the user fails to provide a required identifier. Such prior art has no provision for appointment scheduling or customized marketing by which Consumers can be contacted to encourage repeat business.
Scheduling and project management systems are available in prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 6,604,124 teaches a system and method for computerized management of work flow and for tracking the completion of projects in a company. Websites for gaming and sports have developed systems for posting schedules of teams and athletes. Such systems do not allow Consumers to schedule appointments with Service Providers, nor do they provide for marketing and promotional features that encourage Consumer return business.
In various industries and businesses, Service Providers need to take reservations and make appointments for Consumers and subsequently confirm and remind Consumers of the appointment time. Often, a Service Provider retains personal data about a Consumer's preferences and the services previously given so the provider can customize its services for that same Consumer should he or she return. To generate repeat business, Service Providers usually need to contact their clients periodically to encourage them to make new appointments for services. This follow-up marketing can be labor, time, and cost intensive because individual communications are needed for each client. In trades and industries that are particularly competitive, ease of access to the provider and quality of customer care by the provider can be the difference between success and failure. For example, in the beauty business, clients typically telephone a beauty salon for an appointment, and a receptionist logs the reservation for all stylists working in the salon. The job of reminding clients of their need for beauty services every month usually falls to the stylist, who may or may not have time to make the individual contacts necessary. Without follow-up, much repeat business is lost.
Service Providers typically use a combination of systems and methods for advertising, promoting, taking orders or reservations from Consumers, and keeping track of sales. These systems and methods generally involve books of account, paper calendars or appointment books, and desk-top or other local computerized systems with individual proprietary software for payment receipt and bookkeeping. These systems are not directly interactive with the Consumer and so the Consumer cannot use them to communicate to the Service Provider, nor can the Service Provider use them to communicate directly to the Consumer. Most Service Providers maintain separate documents, records, and programs for all of these various functions. In other words, Consumer preference data is maintained in a separate paper file from the financial books, both of which are separate from the appointment books, and all of these are separate from the various methods used for advertising, marketing, and follow-up contacts. As a result, data tends to be duplicated and Service Providers must expend significant labor in creating and maintaining these documents and records.
Even though Service Providers have methods and systems for scheduling and advertising, these methods and systems are not interactive with the Consumer. Therefore, a Service Provider must implement another method or system specifically for communication. For example, the Consumer may have to use a telephone and call a receptionist to request that the receptionist schedule an appointment. This method and system is limited because the Consumer cannot communicate with the Service Provider at any time, but only during business hours, assuming someone is answering telephones and assuming the telephones are not otherwise occupied. Furthermore, this communication method and system relies on the skills and abilities of the person answering the telephone, adding inevitably a measure of human error that is beyond the control of the Consumer and the Individual Service Provider.
There remains a need for a time- and cost-efficient method and system, preferably computerized and internet-accessible, that allows twenty-four hour access for Consumers to schedule appointments and order products or other services, and that will also reduce the labor and paperwork required to be maintained by Service Providers who work by appointment. Such a system and method would preferably facilitate and coordinate the aspects of scheduling, calendaring, marketing, and service tracking so as to reduce repetitive record keeping and increase communication and contact with Consumers.